There's something that feels very 1980s about all this. Back then, in the Barbarians-at-the-Gate era, private equity firms were known for using debt financing to gobble up healthy companies, lay off workers, sell assets and then offer the slimmed-down company for sale.

Not that such deals have stopped, but you don't hear about them as much. They certainly aren't celebrated.

If Cerberus is a familiar name, it may be because of its role with Chrysler, which it controlled when the government was pumping money into automakers under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Cerberus bought 80 percent of Chrysler from Daimler in 2007. Later, as the recession hit, the Bush administration extended TARP loans to the company. Then the Obama administration did the same, after rejecting the automaker's initial restructuring plan.

The company now known as Old Chrysler went bankrupt, and the New Chrysler that emerged was owned by a union trust and Fiat, the Italian company. Cerberus' stake was wiped out in what Forbes described as "a very public black eye."

For the most part, Cerberus is a secretive firm. Its website says the firm is patient, favoring deals that make sense for all stakeholders. It owns hoteliers, resorts, reinsurers, restaurants and a movie production company (Spyglass Entertainment).

In a press release announcing the Cerberus-Albertson's-Safeway deal, Albertson's chief executive Bob Miller is quoted as saying, "Working together will enable us to create cost savings that translate into price reductions for our customers."